Installation

Prerequisites

Before installing SkillRise, ensure you have the following installed on your system:

Node.js 20+

Required for running both client and server

npm or yarn

Package manager for JavaScript dependencies

MongoDB

Local instance or MongoDB Atlas cluster

Git

For cloning the repository

Recommended Setup: Node.js 20.x LTS, npm 10.x, MongoDB 8.x or MongoDB Atlas free tier

Verification

Verify your Node.js and npm versions:

node --version
# Expected: v20.x.x or higher

npm --version
# Expected: 10.x.x or higher

Expected output

v20.11.0
10.2.4

Clone the Repository

Clone from GitHub

Clone the SkillRise repository to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/pv-pushkarverma/skillrise.git
cd skillrise

Expected output

Cloning into 'skillrise'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 1247, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (1247/1247), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (892/892), done.
remote: Total 1247 (delta 678), reused 1104 (delta 589)
Receiving objects: 100% (1247/1247), 2.34 MiB | 5.21 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (678/678), done.

Verify project structure

Check that the repository was cloned successfully:

ls -la

You should see:

client/
server/
docker-compose.yml
README.md
.github/

Install Dependencies

The client and server have separate package.json files. You must install dependencies for both.

Backend (Server)

Navigate to server directory

cd server

Install npm packages

npm install

This installs all dependencies including:

express (v5.1.0) - Web framework
mongoose (v8.13.2) - MongoDB ODM
@clerk/express (v1.4.8) - Authentication
cloudinary (v2.6.0) - Media uploads
groq-sdk (v0.34.0) - AI chat
razorpay (v2.9.6) - Payments

Full installation output

added 247 packages, and audited 248 packages in 12s

38 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details

found 0 vulnerabilities

Verify installation

Check that node_modules was created:

ls -d node_modules
# Output: node_modules

Frontend (Client)

Navigate to client directory

cd ../client

Install npm packages

npm install

This installs all dependencies including:

react (v19.0.0) - UI library
react-router-dom (v7.5.1) - Routing
@clerk/clerk-react (v5.28.2) - Auth UI
axios (v1.8.4) - HTTP client
tailwindcss (v3.4.17) - Styling
vite (v6.3.1) - Build tool

Full installation output

added 312 packages, and audited 313 packages in 15s

102 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details

found 0 vulnerabilities

MongoDB Setup

Choose one of the following MongoDB setup options:

MongoDB Atlas (Recommended)
Local MongoDB

Use MongoDB Atlas (Free Cloud Database)

Create Atlas account

Go to mongodb.com/cloud/atlas
Sign up for a free account
Create a new cluster (M0 free tier)

Configure network access

Go to Network Access → Add IP Address
Click Allow Access from Anywhere (0.0.0.0/0)
Confirm

For production, restrict to specific IPs only

Create database user

Go to Database Access → Add New Database User
Choose Password authentication
Username: skillrise
Generate a secure password
Grant Read and write to any database permission

Get connection string

Click Connect on your cluster
Choose Connect your application
Copy the connection string:

mongodb+srv://skillrise:<password>@cluster0.xxxxx.mongodb.net

Replace <password> with your database user password

Install MongoDB Locally

macOS
Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
Windows

# Install via Homebrew
brew tap mongodb/brew
brew install mongodb-community@8.0

# Start MongoDB
brew services start mongodb-community@8.0

# Verify it's running
mongosh

# Import MongoDB GPG key
curl -fsSL https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-8.0.asc | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-8.0.gpg

# Add MongoDB repository
echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-8.0.gpg ] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu jammy/mongodb-org/8.0 multiverse" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-8.0.list

# Install MongoDB
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y mongodb-org

# Start MongoDB
sudo systemctl start mongod
sudo systemctl enable mongod

# Verify
mongosh

Download MongoDB Community Server from mongodb.com/try/download/community
Run the installer (.msi file)
Choose Complete installation
Install MongoDB as a Windows Service
Open Command Prompt and verify:

mongosh

Local MongoDB will be available at mongodb://localhost:27017

Third-Party Service Setup

SkillRise requires API keys from the following services:

Clerk

User authentication and webhooks

Razorpay

Payment processing for course purchases

Cloudinary

Media uploads (thumbnails, course content)

Groq

AI chatbot and roadmap generation

Verify Installation

Before proceeding to configuration, verify that all components are installed:

# Check Node.js
node --version

# Check npm packages (from server directory)
cd server && npm list --depth=0

# Check npm packages (from client directory)
cd ../client && npm list --depth=0

# Check MongoDB connection (if local)
mongosh --eval "db.version()"

Installation complete! You’re ready to proceed to Configuration.

Troubleshooting

npm install fails with permission errors

Solution: Avoid using sudo with npm. Instead, configure npm to use a different directory:

mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Node version mismatch

Error: The engine "node" is incompatible with this moduleSolution: Use nvm to install Node.js 20:

nvm install 20
nvm use 20
node --version

MongoDB connection refused

For local MongoDB:

# Check if MongoDB is running
sudo systemctl status mongod  # Linux
brew services list            # macOS

# Start MongoDB if stopped
sudo systemctl start mongod   # Linux
brew services start mongodb-community@8.0  # macOS

For MongoDB Atlas: Verify network access settings allow your IP address.

Port 3000 or 5173 already in use

Error: EADDRINUSE: address already in use :::3000Solution: Find and kill the process using the port:

# Find process on port 3000
lsof -ti:3000 | xargs kill -9

# Or use a different port
PORT=4000 npm run server

Overview

Getting Started

Core Features

For Students

For Educators

For Admins

Integrations

Deployment

Development

Prerequisites

Node.js 20+

npm or yarn

MongoDB

Git

Verification

Clone the Repository

Install Dependencies

Backend (Server)

Frontend (Client)

MongoDB Setup

Use MongoDB Atlas (Free Cloud Database)

Install MongoDB Locally

Third-Party Service Setup

Clerk

Razorpay

Cloudinary

Groq

Verify Installation

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Configuration

Docker Setup

​Prerequisites

Node.js 20+

npm or yarn

MongoDB

Git

​Verification

​Clone the Repository

​Install Dependencies

​Backend (Server)

​Frontend (Client)

​MongoDB Setup

​Use MongoDB Atlas (Free Cloud Database)

​Install MongoDB Locally

​Third-Party Service Setup

Clerk

Razorpay

Cloudinary

Groq

​Verify Installation

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Configuration

Docker Setup

Prerequisites

Verification

Clone the Repository

Install Dependencies

Backend (Server)

Frontend (Client)

MongoDB Setup

Use MongoDB Atlas (Free Cloud Database)

Install MongoDB Locally

Third-Party Service Setup

Verify Installation

Troubleshooting

Next Steps